Challenge Accepted
by louicorn
Summary: Santana loves Breadstix - so much so that she makes a bet with Brittany in hopes of winning a free meal there. She now has ten days to make Brittany fall for her. Along the way, she realizes that maybe - just maybe - Breadstix isn't all she cares about.
1. Challenge Accepted

Santana has to have the most easily distracted mind.

Or maybe she just isn't that into this.

As she kisses her latest football player hook-up, who she also happens to be straddling in the backseat of his car, she wonders how Brittany's date is going. She wonders if Brittany is doing exactly what she is doing right now. Ugh, she hopes not. She doesn't like the image of yucky guy hands all over Brittany.

Is it weird that she thinks that?

But Brittany's her best friend. She's supposed to be that protective, right?

Besides, Brittany doesn't have much luck with guys. Out of all the jerks she could choose, she somehow finds the jerkiest ones. So, as her best friend, Santana should be worried. Because that is obviously completely normal behavior for a best friend.

"God, you're so fucking hot, Santana," the guy moans.

"I know," Santana mumbles into the kiss.

He pulls off his shirt and is just about to do the same to Santana when her phone vibrates. "Hands off," Santana warns. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and reads her new text message.

_Brittany: Please come over, San._

Santana's sort of glad actually. She's getting sick of this guy anyway. "I have to go," she says.

He groans. She just rolls her eyes and starts fixing her hair. She gets off his lap and hops out of the car, not even giving him one last glance.

"I'll call you!" he yells after her.

"Please don't!" she calls back.

* * *

><p>The walk to Brittany's house doesn't take long. Everything's basically within walking distance in Lima anyway. When Santana's at Brittany's door, she takes out her phone to text her. It's kind of late to ring the doorbell.<p>

Within seconds, the door's flung open, and Santana's so used to Brittany's spontaneity she doesn't even flinch when Brittany pops out of nowhere.

"Hey, Britt," she says with a gentle smile.

Brittany sighs, grabbing Santana's hand and pulling her inside the house. "You're right, San. He was a jerk."

Santana just tightens her grip on Brittany's hand.

They walk up to Brittany's room, and Santana automatically flops onto Brittany's bed. Brittany, on the other hand, crawls under her bed to pull out a bottle of tequila. Then she climbs onto the bed as well and takes a swig from the bottle.

"Brittany, don't."

Brittany looks over at Santana sadly. She takes another swig.

"Brittany."

"What?"

Santana peels Brittany's fingers off the bottle and pulls the bottle from Brittany's hands. "Stop drinking."

"Why?"

"Because this happens all the time. A stupid boy messes with you, and you drink." Santana turns her body to face Brittany, who's sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I thought he was going to be different."

Santana rolls her eyes as she places the bottle on Brittany's bedside table. "You say that every time, Britts."

"Because, every time, I think I've found the right guy!"

"Well, you clearly have awful taste in guys."

"Josh wasn't so bad, was he?"

Santana grimaces. "Uh, yeah, he was."

"Your standards are just too high, Santana."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is. No one can live up to them."

"Please."

"I bet even you couldn't live up to them if you were a guy."

"Hold up." Santana raises her hand in objection. "I'd make a better guy than any of the ones you've hooked up with."

Brittany arches her eyebrow challengingly. "I don't know about that."

"Is that a challenge?" Santana asks, squinting her eyes.

Brittany smirks as she watches Santana's competitive nature take over. "I didn't say that, Santana."

"But you implied it." Santana crosses her arms over her chest. "You know, if I were a guy, you'd fall head over heels for me."

Brittany snorts. "Getting a little full of ourselves, don't you think?"

Santana purses her lips. "Ten days."

"What?"

"Give me ten days, and you'd fall in love with me."

"You're crazy."

Santana's eyes twinkle. "Are you backing down already?"

Brittany turns all the way around to face Santana. "Of course not," she says firmly. "Fine," Brittany adds with a new wave of confidence, "whoever loses has to pay for an all-you-can-eat dinner at Breadstix."

Santana smirks. Brittany couldn't have come up with a better incentive for her. "Good."

"Good."

"I'll come pick you up at seven tomorrow."

"What?"

"You heard me. Wear a dress, too. You know, whatever you do when you go on a date."

Brittany grins. "We're going on a date?"

"That's what you do with guys, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah."

"Exactly."

* * *

><p>"Hello, Santana."<p>

"Hey, Mrs. Pierce," Santana chirps. The only adults she ever treats with respect are Brittany's parents.

"Well, don't you look nice today?"

Santana glances at her attire sheepishly. Just as she told Brittany to do, she wore a nice dress and her highest heels (Brittany's tall, okay?). She even curled her hair. Man, the lengths she would go to win a bet. "We're going on a date," she explains to Mrs. Pierce.

Mrs. Pierce furrows her eyebrows before chuckling and waving her hand dismissively. While the situation would strike the mother of any average teenage girl as unusual, Mrs. Pierce knows better. Santana and Brittany have been inseparable all their lives. What's a date when the two have already vowed eternal love over a decade ago in their adorable little white dresses? "You girls are so silly," Mrs. Pierce says.

Santana is about to clarify the seriousness of the situation—anything involving breadsticks is a matter of life and death, after all—when she hears the clicking of heels slowly approaching.

Mrs. Pierce glances up from the door and smiles. In a moment, Brittany appears beside her mother, and Santana can't help but grin like an idiot. Brittany's always looked so much like her mom. It only means that she will age well.

"You two have fun now, alright?" Mrs. Pierce says. "And don't bring her home too late," she tells Santana with a jokingly stern face, having decided to join their little game.

Santana nods with a wide smile. "Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Pierce gives them one last drawn-out look before she heads back into the kitchen, shaking her head but smiling at the frankly endearing situation. Yes, in her mind, they are still the cutest little girls playing dress up, only now they're much taller…and have boobs.

"My mom's kinda creepy sometimes," Brittany says as she watches her mom walk away with a small smile on her lips.

Santana ignores the comment completely. "You look beautiful, Brittany," she says instead, taking in the long blonde hair, the formfitting dress…and oh, my God, are those abs that you can see through her dress?

Brittany raises an eyebrow. "Has the game, like, started already?"

Santana quickly breaks from her trance. "What?"

Brittany shoots her a weird look but makes nothing more of it. Santana's been acting strangely a lot recently.

"I mean," Santana begins, finding words difficult to say, "yeah. Of course the game's started."

"Well, then," Brittany says with a smile, "thank you. You look beautiful, too."

Santana nods in agreement. "I know."

Brittany rolls her eyes but giggles despite herself. "Is this your idea of being charming?"

Santana ponders the question for a moment. "Well, honesty _is_ charming."

"Santana."

"Alright, alright, but you know what is charming?"

"What?"

Santana reveals a bouquet of roses from behind her back and displays them with a triumphant smile.

Brittany's eyes light up at Santana's unexpected thoughtfulness, and she lowers her nose to the flowers, inhaling that sweet scent. "Are these for me?"

"For you and no one else."

Brittany smirks. "Well, well, well, would you look at that swag?"

"You're falling, Brittany," Santana points out matter-of-factly. "You're falling hard."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Where is the title from, and where's the reference to a Brittany line from the show? First reviewer to answer both questions correctly wins. Go! I'll announce the winner in my next update. :D


	2. Day 1

**Day 1**

* * *

><p>"C'mon," Santana says with a toss of her head toward her car, "let's get going." She extends the crook of her arm to Brittany who giggles before gladly linking arms with Santana.<p>

"Aren't you the gentle…woman," Brittany says.

Santana shrugs with faux nonchalance. "I try," she says with a wink.

Brittany smiles back and continues walking, but, suddenly, she slows down. "Did you…wash your car, Santana?" she asks incredulously.

Santana looks from her glistening white BMW to Brittany's awed face. "Yeah. So?"

"Do you even know how to wash a car?"

"Of course I do."

Santana starts walking again, dragging Brittany along. "But I can't even remember the last time you washed it," Brittany says.

Santana thinks about Brittany's words for a minute. "You know what, Britts, you're right. I can't either."

"Then?"

"What?"

"Why did you decide to wash it now?"

"Isn't the reason obvious?" she asks, tired of the topic already. She leads Brittany to the passenger seat's side of the car and opens the door for her.

Brittany glances from the open door to Santana's smiling face warily. This overload of niceness is freaking her out. "Thanks," she mutters as she gets in the car.

Santana makes her way over to the driver's side and gets in as well. "Well, here we go," she says with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she turns her key.

"You didn't answer my question," Brittany points out.

Santana raises her eyebrow at Brittany. "I'm taking you on a date, Britt-Britt. Of course I need a shiny car."

* * *

><p>"Wow," Brittany gushes as Santana pulls her chair out for her, "I didn't even know there was a restaurant in Lima other than Breadstix."<p>

"I know, right?" Santana surveys the dimly lit restaurant. "But this place looks okay."

"It looks expensive."

Santana sits down on her side of the table. "Well, good thing I don't pay my credit card bills," she jokes.

Brittany sends her a stern look. "San, I don't think you should be wasting all this money."

"I'm not wasting it. This is all helping me win my dinner at Breadstix," she says with twinkling eyes and a smirk.

"Which will not nearly cost as much as this."

"Brittany, please," she says as she slides her hand over Brittany's. "You've had your turn being all selfless and stuff. Let me do it now."

Brittany purses her lips and smiles. "Okay."

They stare at each other for a few more seconds before Brittany's eyes flick toward their clasped hands. Noticing Brittany's gaze, Santana pulls away quickly, and Brittany's smile falters for just a flash before she's back to cheery Brittany mode again.

* * *

><p>"So, did you have fun tonight?" Santana asks as they make their way back to her car.<p>

Brittany smiles at Santana. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"Good." Santana nods a few times to herself.

Brittany studies Santana for a moment but looks away again.

"What?" Santana asks, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.

"Why aren't you like this all the time?"

"Like what?" Santana asks, acting as if she has no idea what Brittany's talking about.

"Like…caring," Brittany says with a smile, "and kind…and sweet."

Santana chuckles. "You know I'm not like that."

"But I think you are." Brittany stops in her tracks and holds Santana's hands in her own. "I think you are."

"Only you think that."

"That's why I think you should be like this with everyone. Everyone should know what a wonderful person you are."

"But I don't want to be like this with everyone else. I just want to be like this with you."

Brittany knows that, on principle, she should persist with her argument. But she's only human, and Santana's words just now made her feel so special. So she just grins and whispers, "Okay."

Glad the discussion is over, Santana pulls her hands out of Brittany's and starts walking again, failing to notice Brittany's frown at the loss of contact. At least Brittany isn't too disappointed because their bodies are still merely inches apart, and the backs of their hands are still brushing way too often to be purely accidental…right?

A couple of times, Brittany even thinks Santana's about to hold her hand, but she always just ends up lifting her hand up to fix her hair. Brittany, for one, doesn't understand. Santana's hair looks perfectly fine to her.

* * *

><p>"Well, tonight was super fun. Really."<p>

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Santana smiles. "Just remember to start saving up for Breadstix," she adds with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Brittany rolls her eyes. "I should say the same to you."

Santana shakes her head. "Just keep denying it, Britts, but you know you wants up on all of this."

Brittany laughs with Santana. "We'll see, Santana, we'll see."

As their laughter dies down, Santana glances at Brittany's door. "Well, I guess it's time to say good night."

"I guess it is."

"Good night, Britt-Britt."

"Good night, Santana."

Slowly, Santana leans into Brittany, but she has no idea what the plan is. Is she going to kiss her? On the lips or on the cheek? Is she going to hug her? Jesus, do people even give good night hugs? It's not like she's never kissed Brittany before. Heck, they've done way more than kissing. But their "encounters" weren't exactly regular, and they're neither drunk nor high at the moment.

Finally, Santana decides on a hug because, _fine_, she's a coward. She lingers for a moment before pulling back from the hug, and she already feels cold without the warmth of Brittany's body. "I'll text you, alright?"

Brittany nods. "Okay. Drive safe."

A grin spreads across Santana's face. She never knew that having Brittany dictate her driving habits would have such an effect on her. "I will," she assures Brittany as she begins to walk down the steps of Brittany's porch.

Before she reaches her car, she turns around again to find Brittany still watching her from the porch. She gives Brittany a little wave and a smile before sliding in her car and driving home.

* * *

><p><em>Santana: Hey Britts, I just got home.<em>

_Brittany: Hey. :) What are you up to now?_

_Santana: Nothing much. Just getting ready to go to bed. How about you?_

_Brittany: Already in bed. Lord Tubbington can't sleep alone._

_Santana: Of course._

_Brittany: I can't sleep alone either, so I guess I need him as much as he needs me._

_Santana: Well, I'm going to stop keeping you from getting your beauty sleep then. Good night!_

_Brittany: Wait. I can't fall sleep, Santana._

_Santana: Hmmm, let's keep texting then. I'm sure you'll fall asleep eventually._

_Brittany: Okay. :) You're awesome, San._

_Santana: Haha, thanks, but you're way more awesome than I am._

_Brittany: That's not true. You're more awesome._

Halfway through arguing who is more awesome and discussing the nocturnal habits of felines, Brittany stops texting back. Santana sends her another text just to make sure.

_Santana: Britts?_

When Brittany still doesn't answer within five minutes, Santana smiles to herself as she imagines a sleeping Brittany with her cellphone still in her hand and half a text message typed out on the phone. Santana sends one last text to her best friend before she slides into her blanket and dozes off as well.

_Santana:_ _Good night, Britt-Britt. Call me if you get that nightmare about the big duckies chasing the little duckies again, okay?_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Oops, almost forgot. Gleekelle totally won the challenge. :)


	3. Day 2

**Day 2**

* * *

><p>Santana sits up in bed and fumbles with her hands.<p>

You see, she dreamt of Brittany last night. And she's dreamt of Brittany many times before, but she can't help but feel that the dream last night was…different. Once in a while, Brittany would appear in her dreams, but she was always merely a minor character. And Santana can't even remember the dream she had last night, but she just _knows_ Brittany did not play a minor role at all.

And now, all this thinking about what Brittany did in her dream is making her think about what Brittany's doing in real life. There's way too much thinking going on for Santana's liking, and it's only ten in the morning.

Santana glances over at her window and sees the glow of sunlight through her curtains. It makes her cringe—hard. She's not a morning person and has never been one…unlike, say, Brittany. Oh, God, she finally distracts herself from Brittany, and now she's back to thinking about her again. What is wrong with her this morning?

Santana flicks her eyes over to her cellphone for just a fraction of a second. Then she's back to staring at her hands again. She feels weird. She feels like someone just caught her glimpsing at her phone.

And what if she glanced over at her phone? She's allowed to do that, isn't she? It's _her_ phone. With _her_ text messages. Most of which are from Brittany. Damn, there her mind goes again.

But, really, what _is_ Brittany doing at this ungodly hour? She's probably already gone on her morning jog and showered and had breakfast. That's Brittany for you—always happy and full of energy and bubbly, even when the sun shone the brightest and _no one_ should be allowed out of his house or his bed.

Santana sends one last regretful look at her window before she picks up her cellphone.

* * *

><p>Brittany places her dirty dishes in the dishwasher and sighs happily. Her skin's still warm from the sunlight she soaked up this morning on her morning jog, and her hair's still refreshingly wet from her shower.<p>

Now full from her breakfast, she wonders what she should do for the rest of her day. Summer vacation leaves you a lot of free time.

Before she has to worry her mind any further, though, her phone quacks, and Brittany's face lights up immediately. She loves text messages and phone calls. It seems she had never gotten over her fascination with cellphones.

_Santana:_ _Good morning, Britts. _

Brittany claps her hands. This has to be a new record for Santana—up and texting by ten in the morning.

_Brittany: Hi, San! Why are you up so early?_

_ Santana: Eh… I don't really know. I just couldn't go back to sleep. I was thinking about...stuff…._

_ Brittany: Oh. Sounds fun. What kind of stuff?_

_ Santana: You know…things. Whatever, it's not important. Anyway, whatcha doing now?_

_ Brittany: Nothing, really. I just had breakfast after my morning jog and shower._

_Santana: Wouldn't have guessed it. :)_

_ Brittany: What are you talking about, silly? I do that all the time._

_ Santana: Hey, Britt, what are your plans for today?_

_ Brittany: I don't have any plans… Why?_

_ Santana: Can I take you out tonight? Watch a movie maybe?_

_ Brittany: I'd love that._

* * *

><p>Brittany steps out of her door and leans back on it as she smiles nervously at Santana. "Hey."<p>

Santana flashes a big grin back. "Hey, you."

Brittany rocks on her heels, unsure of how to respond to what appears to be a flirtatious greeting. "Hey," she says again.

Santana chuckles and raises an eyebrow at Brittany, her amusement evident in her lopsided grin. All of a sudden, her eyes light up, and she reaches into her pocket. "I got you this," she says, holding out a tiny case to Brittany.

Brittany tilts her head confusedly. "Is this edible?"

Santana laughs and taps Brittany's nose lightly. "No, silly, they're earplugs."

"Oh."

"I just assumed you couldn't sleep last night because of your neighbor's cat and her meow-fests with Lord Tubbington."

"Meow-fest?" Brittany asks with an amused grin.

Santana rolls her eyes. "You know, when they, like, meow at each other all night long."

"So are you saying you finally agree with me that they have a secret love affair?"

"What? No. Brittany, why are we even talking about this? Let's go."

"Where's your car?"

"In my garage." Santana looks at Brittany over her shoulder with a knowing grin on her face. "You don't mind walking, do you?" The thing is, Brittany _loves_ walking, and jogging, and dancing, and anything involving exercise really. Santana, on the other hand, is the lazy one. In fact, if she could drive to her bathroom, she would. The walk is simply too long.

As Santana watches Brittany hop in place and clap her hands, Santana breaks out into a wide smile as well. There is just something so heartwarming to see pure, genuine joy pouring from Brittany.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Santana asks.

Brittany immediately skips down the steps of her porch and links arms with Santana. After walking a few steps, Brittany looks over at Santana and says, "You look cute today, San."

Santana blushes slightly, causing Brittany to giggle even more. "Thanks, Britt," she mumbles.

"You should wear headbands more often."

Santana touches the headband on her head and smiles. "Okay."

* * *

><p>Santana gazes up at the movie titles and times displayed on the TV screens. "Well, what do you say, Britt-Britt?"<p>

Brittany bites her lip. There are simply too many choices.

Santana chuckles. "Can't decide?"

Brittany turns to Santana with a pout and shakes her head.

"Okay, tell me which ones you _really_ want to watch, and we'll decide from there."

"Hmm, well, I think superheroes are awesome, so _Captain America_ is definitely one of my two top choices."

"Alright, and what's the other one?"

Brittany glances over at Santana uneasily and looks down at her feet.

Santana nudges Brittany's arm with her elbow and smiles at her reassuringly. "Hm?"

"_Cars 2_," Brittany mutters under her breath. She looks up again at Santana and shrugs. "But no one ever watches cartoons with me on dates, so it's fine. We don't have to watch it."

Santana furrows her eyebrows, and Brittany speaks again before she can respond. "It's childish—I know."

"No," Santana says slowly, "it's not. When was the last time you watched a cartoon in a theater?"

"I don't know," Brittany says with a shrug. "A long time ago. When I was still young enough for this stuff."

"Britts, no one's _ever_ too old for cartoons. Besides, I loved the first _Cars_ movie. The ending scene sent a very inspirational message to the viewers."

Brittany's eyes twinkle in delight. "Right?"

* * *

><p>"Sweet or salty?"<p>

"Erm…"

"Having trouble with decisions today, huh?" Despite her question, Santana sends Brittany a patient smile.

"It's just… My brain can't deal with all these choices."

"Do you like sweet popcorn better or salty popcorn better?"

"I like both."

Santana puckers her lips as she contemplates how to proceed. Then, she shrugs. "Good. We'll get both."

"Wait, really?"

"Mmhmm," Santana says with a nod as she starts telling the cashier what they want.

"You're totally spoiling me, Santana."

Santana hands the drinks to Brittany before picking up the two bags of popcorn herself. "Good," she says as they leave the line, "I love spoiling you." She flashes Brittany a grin, and Brittany giggles while she shakes her head in disbelief. Whatever this bet or game is they're playing, Santana's kicking ass at it.

* * *

><p>"That was pretty good, wasn't it?" Santana asks.<p>

Brittany nods enthusiastically. "Mmhmm."

"I'm glad you liked it, Britts." Santana tosses their empty drinks into the trash and continues walking toward the exit.

"Did you like it, too?"

Santana thinks about it for a second. "Yeah, I did."

"Good." Brittany looks around before her eyes fall upon another _Captain America_ movie poster. Santana doesn't miss Brittany's longing stare.

"Too bad we didn't get to watch _Captain America_," Santana says.

"Yeah, too bad."

"Well, I'm sure it'll come out on DVD soon."

"Yeah."

"Although, you wouldn't get all the crazy 3D effects in that case."

Brittany frowns. "Oh."

Santana suddenly stops walking and grabs Brittany's arm. "Oh, c'mon, Britt, you still want to watch _Captain America_." She's dragging Brittany back into the theater before Brittany even knows what's happening.

"Wait, what are you doing, Santana?"

"_We_ are going to watch _Captain America_ now."

"But-but we just watched a movie."

"And now we're going to watch another one." Santana smirks. "You're not too tired for this, are you?"

Brittany shakes her head. "Not at all," she chirps.

* * *

><p>"San, you're awesome."<p>

"Shhh."

"No, but you are."

"Britt-Britt," Santana whispers, "stop talking so loudly."

"I'm not. This is my normal voice."

"I know, but you have to keep your normal voice down because other people are trying to watch the movie," she says under her breath, completely aware of the annoyed stares coming their way.

"Ohhhh, I get it—" Brittany immediately shuts up when Santana presses her finger into Brittany's lips.

"Quiet, Brittany," she says again.

Brittany stares down at Santana's finger, and her heartbeat speeds up a bit. It makes her strangely nervous having Santana touch her lips like that.

Santana chuckles softly at Brittany's cross-eyed face. She finally pulls her finger away and pats Brittany's hand several times. "You're so silly."

As she's about to place her hand back into her lap, Brittany turns up her palm. Santana lets her hand linger for another moment. Then she smiles to herself and slides her fingers through Brittany's.

They're almost done with the movie, but their hands still haven't moved. Brittany loves it. And Santana… Well, fine, she loves it, too.

* * *

><p>"The girl was hot," Brittany deadpans as they leave the theater.<p>

Santana nods in agreement. "Totally."

"Captain America was hot, too."

Santana frowns at that. "Really, now?" she asks sarcastically, and her grip on Brittany's hand loosens.

Brittany nods. "Captain America's best friend or whatever was hot, too."

Santana rolls her eyes. "Not my type."

"Yeah… He seems more of Quinn's type," Brittany decides.

"Right."

"So, San, our dates are just getting better and better," Brittany tells Santana with a shy smile. It's weird saying the word "date" like that.

"I take my sticks seriously," Santana says with a smirk.

Brittany rolls her eyes. "That you do."

Santana doesn't seem to notice Brittany's dry tone. "Well, just you wait for tomorrow. It's going to get even better."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Trivia time! Reference to a recent rumor in the news?

And my "Moving In" readers, sorry I haven't updated yet. I'm going to do it soon. Promise!


	4. Day 3

**Author's Note:** Congrats to **noflow** for winning last chapter's trivia challenge. :) The answer was the Dianna Agron/Sebastian Stan rumor.

This chapter's trivia question: reference to a Brittany line from the show?

* * *

><p><strong>Day 3<strong>

* * *

><p>When Brittany feels the brightness of the always welcome sun seep through her eyelids, she stretches her arms and flutters her eyes open. The birds are chirping outside her window, the trees are rustling under the soft breeze, and the sun's warming everything up. She almost feels as if she could break into song.<p>

And she does.

Singing Disney songs in the morning had somehow become a hobby of hers.

A glance at her clock tells her it's already nine. She had slept in. But no worries—her days as of late have all been relaxed and lazy in the best way possible. And these slow days have only been memorable because of Santana and her cute plans.

Speak of the devil. Brittany's cellphone rings mere moments after she wakes up, and to say that Brittany is surprised by the sender of the text is an understatement.

_Santana: Good morning, Britts. It's lovely out, isn't it?_

_ Brittany: Where is my Santana?_

_ Santana: What?_

_ Brittany: Trying to abduct me was enough. Give Santana back to me._

_Santana:_ _B, it's Santana…_

_ Brittany: Oh. Why are you up so early? Are you okay?_

_ Santana: I'm fine. Stop worrying, Britt. I just wanted to say good morning._

_ Brittany: Good morning, San. :) And you're right. It is beautiful outside today._

_ Santana: I know. Made me think of you._

Brittany's fingers freeze on her keypad. What does that even mean? Before she can come up with a witty response, though, Santana sends her another text.

_Santana: Hey, I gotta go, Britts. I'll call you later, okay?_

_ Brittany: Okay._

_Brittany: I miss you._

_ Santana: Miss you, too. For reals now—bye!_

_ Brittany: Bye! :D_

Santana chuckles to herself as she tucks her phone back into her jeans. _My Santana… _She likes the sound of that.

* * *

><p>Brittany checks her phone for probably the hundredth time that day. No messages, no missed calls, nothing.<p>

Santana _did_ say she would call her later, and she _did_ say the night before that she had something planned for today. But, as it appears, it is not so. The day's almost over anyway. The last bits of sunlight are disappearing under the dark clouds, and the moon's beginning to shine through the greyness.

Brittany heaves another sigh and flops onto her bed. Lord Tubbington gives her a bored look. Great. Even her cat thinks she's pathetic.

She should have known. The whole thing has always been a joke to Santana anyway.

Stupid breadsticks.

* * *

><p>Santana smiles to herself. This is an excellent plan if she does say so herself. Never mind it took her an entire day to get it together. It's all going to be worth it because Britt will love it. Santana can already imagine her face. Her lips will curl into that cute smile, her nose will crinkle just the tiniest bit, and those beautiful eyes will glimmer with genuine happiness—the kind that only Brittany has, the kind that makes Santana want to smile along with her.<p>

And of course Santana's going to get her breadsticks.

Because that's what this whole thing's always been about. Breadsticks. Santana nods to herself once. Yep, breadsticks.

* * *

><p>When Brittany's phone rings, Brittany doesn't even bother to crack a smile. Four hours ago she might have.<p>

"Hello?" Brittany answers dryly, only rolling her eyes at the caller ID.

"Hey, Britts."

"Hi."

"Is everything alright? You sound kind of tired."

Brittany huffs. "Yes. Everything's fine."

"Oh…okay," Santana says unsurely. "Well—"

"You said you'd call."

Santana grins to herself. "And here I am calling."

"Do you think this is funny?"

"I mean, I guess it's a little bit funny."

"Do you have anything to say, Santana? 'Cause I'm hanging up now."

"Wait, hold on, Britt-Britt." Santana glances up at the glowing window. It's dark out tonight. "Don't hang up."

"What do you want?"

There's some scuffling, and suddenly the ambience on Santana's end sounds strangely distant.

"Santana…? Am I on speakerphone?"

"Look out your window, Britt."

And that's when the gentle strums of an acoustic guitar floats through the phone. As Brittany squints her eyes in confusion, she quickly shuffles over to her window, pulling it up and sticking her head out.

Santana smiles up at her as she continues strumming a very familiar looking guitar that makes her look even tinier than usual. With a wink, she begins to sing. "You're a part-time lover and a full time friend. The monkey on your back is the latest trend. I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else but you…"

A grin slowly crosses Brittany's face as she takes her phone off her ear, enjoying every note drifting out of Santana's lips.

When Santana finally finishes the song, she opens her arms and shrugs.

Brittany laughs, more to herself than anything. "I love _Juno_," she says.

Santana cocks her head and places a hand behind her ear. "I can't hear you," she calls up to Brittany.

Brittany smiles and tries again. "I love _Juno_!" she yells.

"I know," Santana tells her with a grin.

Brittany rocks on her heels and sends Santana a flirtatious smile. Then she beckons Santana up with a waggle of her index finger.

Santana smirks as she starts to expertly climb the tree outside Brittany's house. Years and years of practice have made the task easy as pie—even with a guitar hanging off her shoulder. When Santana's finally high enough to look Brittany straight in the eyes, Brittany extends her hand, prepared to tug Santana in as usual.

Santana takes her hand but, instead of making a move for the window, she cranes her neck and leaves a gentle kiss on the back of Brittany's hand. She lets her lips linger in place as she glances up at Brittany, finding her as red as a tomato. She chuckles as she lifts her head up again. God, if she could just kiss those pink ears and those rosy cheeks…

Brittany coughs awkwardly, and Santana quickly lets go of her hand. "Here," Santana says as she hands Brittany the guitar, "put this inside, and I'll come in myself." Brittany nods and takes the instrument while Santana worms her way through the window.

She hops into Brittany's room and jumps onto the bed right away. "Sorry I took so long to call," Santana says as she bounces on the bed. "I spent the whole day learning how to play that song." Santana pouts when she lifts up her hands and shows Brittany her calloused fingers.

Instinctively, Brittany takes the hands into her own and rubs gently at the tips. "Does it hurt?" she asks.

Santana shrugs. "Nah, not really." And with that, she pulls her hands away from Brittany, using them as a pillow instead as she lies down on the bed.

"Where'd you get the guitar anyway?" Brittany asks.

"Puck."

"Oh." Brittany raises her eyebrows. "How did you get him to give it to you?"

"I asked."

"Really? And?"

"And…" Santana rolls her eyes. "He said no."

"Did you ask nicely?"

"Yes."

Brittany crosses her arms over her chest. "Really?"

Sighing, Santana mumbles, "No."

"Hmm."

"Fine! I just took it, okay?"

"Santana!"

"Whatever. I'll give it back first thing tomorrow."

Brittany shakes her head disapprovingly, but Santana just grins at her. "Besides, you liked it," Santana says.

Brittany opens her mouth to protest, but Santana cuts her off. "In fact," Santana says smugly, "you _loved_ it."

Brittany purses her lips but gives in at last. "Fine, I did."

"And that's all that matters." Santana pats the empty space next to her. "C'mere, Britt-Britt."

Brittany looks away with a small smile before padding over to Santana and flinging herself onto the bed. "Are you staying the night, San?" she asks softly.

Santana turns to look at her. "Do you want me to?"

Brittany gazes back into those brown eyes, only inches away from her. "Yeah."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"Belle's so stupid," Santana mutters. "If she had just listened to the Beast, she wouldn't have gotten herself into so much trouble."<p>

Brittany frowns, having always been sympathetic to Belle. "Belle's not stupid, Santana…"

"But she is! I mean—" Santana shuts up when she feels Brittany's body shift. She glances up from where her head is rested on Brittany's shoulder and notices Brittany's pout.

"Belle's smart," Brittany insists. "She reads…and stuff."

"I know, Britt-Britt," Santana says in a soothing voice, "I know." She starts brushing her thumb reassuringly against Brittany's stomach, where she had previously laid her hand.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Santana?" Brittany asks quietly.

"No," Santana firmly tells her.

"Really?"

"Do I ever lie to you?"

Brittany thinks about it for a second, then shakes her head.

Santana smiles. "Exactly."

Brittany smiles back at her as she slides her hand over to Santana's.

Santana glances down at the hand draped over hers before she watches for Brittany's expression. Brittany's eyes are unsure, but she still grins at Santana. Santana turns back to the television, slipping her fingers into Brittany's along the way.

Brittany smiles to herself, and they continue watching the movie.

* * *

><p>Santana can't remember a time Brittany <em>didn't<em> cry when the Beast turns back into a prince and kisses Belle. Tonight is no exception as silent tears stream down Brittany's pretty face.

Santana chuckles into Brittany's arm, and Brittany gazes down at her with sad eyes. "It's not funny, San," she whines.

"I don't think it's funny. I just… You're such a kindhearted person, Brittany."

Brittany blinks back some tears, uncomprehending. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Never mind."

"It's just that they love each other, _so much_. How much must you love someone to overlook the fact that they're not even human?"

"I don't know."

"I mean, I love Lord Tubbington, but that's different. It's not that kind of love."

"What kind of love?"

"True love. Soulmates love. The best kind of love." Brittany wipes another tear from her eye. "How do you even find love like that?"

"_I_ love you, Britt," Santana says with a shrug. "I don't know if it's as much as that, but I love you."

Brittany smiles down at her. "I love you, too."

"Like…are you _in_ love with me or is it just a best friends type of thing?"

Brittany stares at Santana incredulously. "Really, Santana?"

Santana looks embarrassed now. "Just wanted to make sure, you know. I've got breadsticks waiting for me," she explains with a half-hearted laugh.

When Brittany doesn't respond, Santana clears her throat and says, "Best friends love is totally cool, too. I mean, it's great. Yeah."

Brittany just shakes her head and turns her attention back to the movie again. Of course Santana had to ruin the moment. It's Santana after all.

Santana looks guiltily at Brittany and immediately starts racking her brain for ways to make up for her insensitivity. Again.

* * *

><p>When the movie ends, Brittany turns the television off right away and flips off the light switch. She turns her back to Santana and tries to sleep. God knows it won't be easy. It's never easy when she's pissed at Santana.<p>

Santana just gazes at Brittany's back dejectedly. She hates seeing Brittany like that. More than she dislikes the idea of someone being angry at her, she dislikes the idea of Brittany being all sad and mopey. See, Brittany's not an angry person. In fact, she's one of the happiest people Santana knows. And when she _is_ angry, she's just sad inside. Brittany can't deal with being angry. Santana knows that.

Tentatively, Santana reaches her hand out to Brittany. At first, she just lets her fingers graze Brittany's back. When Brittany doesn't react, she lays her whole palm down. Gently, she slides her hand up to Brittany's shoulder and wriggles her body closer to Brittany's. "Britt," she whispers, unsure if Brittany's actually awake, "I _do_ love you. Just wanted you to know."

With a sigh, she begins to turn her body away, but then a hand holds hers in place. Santana looks back again and sees Brittany's hand on top of hers. She glances up at Brittany, immediately meeting her blue eyes. They're not as radiant as usual, but there's no trace of anger in them either.

Santana gives Brittany a small smile, thankful for Brittany's forgiveness yet angry at herself for always needing it.

Perhaps Brittany sees the guilt in Santana's eyes. Perhaps she doesn't. Either way, she flips her body over and leans into Santana, leaving a peck on her cheek.

Santana's eyes widen in surprise at the sweet gesture, but when Brittany pulls back and looks into her eyes again, Santana just smiles back knowingly. And because Santana knows that if anyone in the room were to deserve such a compassionate kiss, it would be Brittany, Santana slowly reaches over as well and—God, do those lips look kissable—shifts just a bit to leave a kiss at the corner of Brittany's mouth.

After lingering a second too long, Santana starts backing away only to catch that endearing grin appear on Brittany's face.

And before she even knows it, her lips are back on Brittany—right on the mouth this time.


	5. Day 4

**Author's Note:** Yay! New chapter up in a day. :) The answer to last chapter's trivia question was the line, "This room looks like the one on the spaceship where I got probed." And congrats to **AnonFan** for being the first to get it right!

* * *

><p><strong>Day 4<strong>

* * *

><p>If you ask Brittany, she'll tell you that there are countless wonderful ways to wake up. She loves waking up to the sun floating from the horizon, to the faint scurrying noises of animals starting their days, to a warm body beside her… But today, it's none of these things that wake her up. Today, she's woken up by something much, much more pleasant.<p>

Santana's fingers brush lightly against the guitar strings. They barely vibrate, but the most soothing melody resonates from them. It's warm, full, and rich. Just like chocolate melting down her throat, the notes waft into Brittany's ear, and Brittany smiles with her eyes sill closed.

As she strums a few more chords, Santana hums some notes quietly. Checking that she hasn't woken Brittany up yet, Santana starts to sing, just barely whispering the lyrics. "Everybody's looking for that something, one thing that makes it all complete… You'll find it in the strangest places, places you never knew it could be…"

Brittany lets out a soft sigh as she listens to Santana's singing voice. It's always so raw and so honest…so different from when she speaks.

Santana continues, "Some find it in the face of their children… Some find it in their lover's eyes… Who can deny the joy it brings, when you've found the special thing, you're flying without wings… You'll find it in the deepest friendship, the kind you cherish all your life…" Brittany curls tighter into her blanket, and Santana briefly glances up from her guitar. When she sees that Brittany's eyes are still closed and that a small smile is on Brittany's lips, she just looks down again and goes on with the song. "And when you know how much it means, you've found that special thing, you're flying without wings…"

Brittany slowly opens her eyes, and she sees Santana sitting on the floor beside the window, her back leaning against the wall. Her eyes are focused on the guitar as she swiftly changes the chord and strums, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. She hasn't noticed that Brittany's watching her yet, so she carries on with her quiet song. "So, impossible as it may seem, you've got to fight for every dream 'cause who's to know which one you let go would have made you complete…"

She takes a deep breath, ready to go onto the next verse when, out of the corner of her eye, she spots Brittany watching her with a subtle smile on her face. Santana abruptly stops her strumming altogether, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar. She closes her mouth when she realizes how stupid she must look right then. "Brittany! You're up!"

"Don't stop," Brittany murmurs.

"What?" Santana chokes out, partly because of Brittany's demand and partly because Brittany looks like a freaking angel with the sunlight splayed across her face. Her tousled hair is absolutely golden from this angle, and her blue eyes shimmer like the rarest sapphires.

Brittany nods in the direction of the guitar. "The song. Finish it."

"Umm…"

"Just do it, Santana."

Santana bites her lip, still hesitating, but Brittany's gazing at her with those irresistibly encouraging eyes, so she finally nods. "Okay."

She starts strumming again, repeating the last line she just sang. "You've got to fight for every dream 'cause who's to know which one you let go would have made you complete…" She stares straight into Brittany's eyes as she delves into the next verse. "Well, for me, it's waking up beside you, to watch the sun rise on your face, to know that I can say I love you in any given time or place… It's little things that only I know… Those are the things that make you mine, and it's like flying without wings 'cause you're my special thing… I'm flying without wings… And you're the place my life begins, and you'll be where it ends… I'm flying without wings, and that's the joy you bring… I'm flying without wings…"

Santana smiles up at Brittany as the song comes to an end, her confidence returning to her with Brittany grinning like she's never heard anything more beautiful. Brittany slithers out of the bed and shuffles over to Santana on her knees.

"I actually wanted to play this song for you yesterday," Santana explains as she runs her hands over the guitar.

Brittany takes the guitar out of Santana's hands and puts it aside. She proceeds to inch closer to Santana and straddle her lap. Then she cups Santana's face into her hands and plants a hard kiss onto Santana's soft lips.

Santana closes her eyes and simply lets her body respond. "Mmm," she hums when their lips part. Licking her lips, she slowly opens her eyes again, and a dazed smile tugs at her lips. "What was that for?" she asks.

Brittany shrugs.

Santana grins before sitting up straighter to meet her lips with Brittany's again. Her hands grip loosely onto Brittany's arms at first, but, as she drowns further and further into the kiss, she drags her hands down to Brittany's waist and squeezes gently.

Brittany smiles into the kiss, giving Santana the courage to move her hands to Brittany's thigh. Santana's actually surprised by how good it all feels. If only she had been sober all those times they had hooked up, she wouldn't have missed out on so much. Last night's kiss was nice, too, but that's all it was—just a gentle, chaste kiss on the lips.

Whatever is happening now is much, _much_ hotter. When she feels Brittany shift on top of her, Santana moans, and, without thinking, she slides her hand up Brittany's thigh under her nightgown.

Brittany's hand covers Santana's right away and stops it from going any higher. She pulls away from the kiss and grins mischievously at Santana. "Not yet," she breathes. Then she rolls off Santana's body and leans against the wall next to her.

Santana looks over at Brittany and smiles. "You're classy," she says with a smirk. "I like it."

Brittany laughs, looking back at Santana and resting her head on the wall.

Santana leans in just a bit, glancing briefly at Brittany's pink lips before meeting her eyes again.

Brittany closes the rest of the distance between them and leaves one last chaste kiss on Santana's waiting lips.

Both of them pull back right away, neither having expected anything more than a peck anyway.

"So, when did you learn how to play this song anyway?" Brittany asks.

"Yesterday," Santana tells her. "The song I played for you last night only had, like, two chords in it. I spent most of my time learning to play this one."

"Well," Brittany says in a teasing tone, "you're an excellent guitarist, Santana."

Santana grins and shrugs. "Eh, I mean, I guess I _am_ pretty good."

Brittany shakes her head. Unbelievable.

Santana just chuckles and nudges Brittany's leg with her foot. "So what are we doing today?" she asks.

Brittany raises her eyebrows. "You mean you have nothing planned for today?"

"Nope."

"Hmmm," Brittany muses as she tilts her head in thought.

"I like to be spontaneous sometimes."

Giggling, Brittany says, "You're just making up an excuse."

"No, I'm not. I thought I might let _you_ decide what you wanted to do. This is all for you, after all."

Brittany's smile slowly fades when she asks, "Is it?"

Santana widens her eyes innocently, acting as if she has no idea what Brittany's talking about. "Hm?"

"Is everything just for me?"

Santana clears her throat. "Yeah."

Brittany squints her eyes. Of course Santana panics whenever her feelings are brought into the equation.

"I mean," Santana mumbles, "no. I guess…I have fun on these crazy dates, too."

Brittany gives Santana a tight-lipped smile, not expecting Santana to all of a sudden profess her undying love for her or anything. Although that would be nice. Now Brittany's just getting distracted. "Alright," she says as she gets up from the ground, "since I get to decide what we're doing, I now demand that you make me a duck-shaped omelet."

"What the hell?" Santana exclaims. "I don't even know how to use a pan except as a weapon against Rachel Whatshername."

Brittany frowns—well, it's really more of a pout—and Santana instantly gets up from her spot on the ground. "Fine," she sighs. "You have to teach me, though."

Brittany grins from ear to ear. "I've always wanted to be a cooking show host."

Santana groans. She's always hated those things. But she supposes she wouldn't have if those shows had hosts as hot as Brittany. With that in mind, she lets Brittany lug her down the stairs.

"Santana," Brittany says in a strict tone of voice, "if you can _serenade_ me, I'm sure you can cook me breakfast, too."

Santana scowls. That made her sound so lame.

As the situation sinks in, Brittany furrows her eyebrows. "You know, now that I think about it, I can't believe you _serenaded_ me—twice."

"I was forced into it the second time," Santana mutters.

Brittany just smirks knowingly at her. "Sure you were."

"I was!" Santana insists.

"Alright, alright!" Brittany says, raising her arms defensively. "That's what I just said."

"Ugh."

"There, there," Brittany hums as she pats Santana back mockingly. "Just cook us some breakfast, and I'll drop the whole thing."

Santana slouches over to the stove and looks down at it blankly. "Britt," she says with a roll of her eyes, "how do you work this thing?"

Brittany rocks on her heels excitedly and tilts her head toward Santana. "Hmm? Come again?" she asks with a playful grin.

Santana takes a deep breath, and when she exhales, all the bitterness is washed from her face. "Britt-Britt," she coos in an exaggeratedly sweet voice, "would you _please_ teach me how to make duck-shaped omelets?"


	6. Day 5

**Day 5**

* * *

><p>With her chin resting on her fists, Brittany gazes dreamily across the table at Santana.<p>

Santana grins, mostly flattered and a bit unsure. "What?" she asks.

Brittany shrugs and shakes her head. "Nothing," she chirps before watching Santana again.

Chuckling, Santana gestures at the bowl in front of Brittany. "Eat your cereal, Britt, before it gets all soggy."

Brittany gives her breakfast a disinterested glance and twists her lips. "Meh." She flicks her eyes back up to Santana's and smiles.

Santana simply shakes her head and brings another mouthful of cereal to her lips, smiling around the spoon at Brittany's goofy grin. She munches on the Coco Puffs and swallows determinedly before placing her spoon back down and leaning forward.

"Aren't you hungry, Britt-Britt?" she asks.

Brittany notices the shortened distance between them and quickly shifts her eyesight down to Santana's lips. "Yeah," she answers absentmindedly.

Santana laughs again and leans over the table the rest of the way, having to partly stand up to do so. The chair grinds loudly against the floor as it's pushed back, but no one really cares because Santana's lips are on Brittany's, and it feels as heavenly as it always does.

The kiss is short, and Santana's back in her chair with the spoon in her hand in no time, but Brittany's left dazed at the opposite side of the table, her goofy grin still very much in place.

"Mmm," Brittany hums out, "you taste like Coco Puffs."

Santana smirks. "You love Coco Puffs."

"True story."

"It's not really a story, Britt," Santana tells her through a chuckle.

"Oh." Brittany seems disappointed for a second, but then she's distracted again when she glances longingly down at Santana's bowl.

Santana follows Brittany's line of sight and smiles. When she scoops her next spoonful of Coco Puffs, she brings the spoon across the table to Brittany's lips.

Brittany opens her mouth right away and eats the cereal.

Grinning to herself, Santana feeds Brittany a few more spoonfuls of Coco Puffs. By the fourth time, Santana asks, "Why won't you eat your own cereal, now?"

Brittany looks away and mumbles, "Your bowl looks yummier."

Santana glances between their two bowls of cereal and finds no difference, but she pushes her bowl across the table anyway. "Here you go."

She's about to grab Brittany's bowl in exchange when Brittany holds her wrists still.

"What?" Santana asks.

"I lied."

"Huh?"

"I…just wanted you to feed me," Brittany finally admits.

After a moment of silence, Santana throws her head back and laughs heartily, making Brittany frown in confusion.

When Santana's laughter dies down, she scoots her chair over to Brittany and brings her bowl with her. Quickly kissing Brittany's cheek, she says, "You should've told me earlier."

* * *

><p>"We're up early," Brittany muses as she places her bowl into the sink. "Where are we going? I don't think I've ever seen you in sunlight before."<p>

Santana frowns as she approaches Brittany with her bowl. "That's not true."

"I hope you don't melt," Brittany says more to herself than anything. "Or sparkle…although that would be pretty hot."

"What?"

"Are you really a 16-year-old girl?" Brittany asks seriously.

Santana looks back at Brittany with a blank expression on her face, but Brittany is far from surprised. She seems to evoke these looks a lot. "Never mind," Brittany says with a shrug as she reaches out for Santana's dirty cereal bowl.

Santana pulls back and shoos Brittany away. "Let me," she says, gently nudging Brittany away from the sink.

Brittany shoots her a weird look, too shocked to protest. "You hate washing the dishes."

Santana rolls her eyes. "I know."

"Then—"

Brittany stops talking when Santana raises her hand. "Just…sit here," Santana says, patting the kitchen counter next to the sink.

Brittany shrugs to herself and swiftly hops up onto the counter, dangling her legs around as she watches Santana rinse the bowls. Santana steals a brief glance at Brittany's toned legs that were on full display thanks to her ridiculously short jean shorts. Brittany notices and kicks at Santana playfully, giggling and blushing herself. Santana just smiles back at her before returning to her task.

Then, to Brittany's surprise, Santana suddenly runs a wet hand up her thigh, making Brittany squeal and squirm away. Before Brittany can plot her revenge, Mrs. Lopez enters the kitchen, giving both girls a confused look.

"Morning, Mrs. Lopez," Brittany chirps.

"Good morning, Brittany," Mrs. Lopez says with a smile. Then she looks over to Santana. "Are you…washing the dishes, Santana?"

"Yes, I am," Santana answers flatly.

"I see." Mrs. Lopez makes her way over to the toaster and tosses two pieces of bread inside. "You girls are up early," she notes.

Santana doesn't say anything, so Brittany shoots her a disapproving look before answering, "Yeah, we are."

Santana rolls her eyes at Brittany and places the clean bowls into the drying rack. "Well, we're leaving now. Bye, Mother," she clips.

She grabs Brittany's hand and roughly yanks her off the counter. Even so, Brittany lands on her feet gracefully and waves Mrs. Lopez goodbye before Santana drags her out of the house.

"Santana," she says when they're outside, "you have to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"You know what." Brittany sends her a stern look, but Santana ignores it.

"Let's just go," Santana says exasperatedly. But then she glances back at the door and curses under her breath. "Shit, I forgot something."

Brittany blinks back at her.

"Wait here, Britt. I'll be right back." Santana rushes back inside and makes a beeline for the kitchen, hoping her mother would be gone by now.

But, of course, Mrs. Lopez is still in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of orange juice. She looks at Santana questioningly, and Santana simply tells her, "I forgot something."

She makes her way over to her mother and picks up the bag filled with half a loaf of bread. As quickly as she came into the kitchen, Santana leaves the room.

Mrs. Lopez shakes her head but doesn't say anything more. Then, Santana storms back in and opens the fridge, searching frantically for something. Finally, she looks up at her mother and asks, "Do you know where the string cheese is?"

Again, Mrs. Lopez tilts her head in confusion. Everyone in the family knows Santana hates string cheese. Her daughter is just full of surprises this morning. "I thought you didn't like string cheese, Santana."

"I don't."

Mrs. Lopez walks calmly over to the fridge and takes out a pack of string cheese hidden amongst all the groceries. She hands it over to Santana and asks, "Then?"

"It's for Brittany," Santana explains after a moment of silence. "Britt likes…that you can separate it into a million pieces or whatever." Santana cracks a grin as she recalls Brittany's long-winded yet adorable speech on string cheese.

Mrs. Lopez nods along, not failing to notice that that was Santana's first smile at her all morning. "Well, have fun with Brittany, then."

At her mother's voice, Santana breaks from her thoughts, and her smile vanishes completely when she realizes where she is—or, more importantly, who she's with. She gives her mother a final curt nod before scurrying back outside the house to the girl waiting impatiently for her.

"What's this?" Brittany asks when Santana opens the door with the food in her arms.

Santana lifts her right hand up and says, "Bread." Then she lifts her left hand up. "String cheese."

"I _love_ string cheese," Brittany gushes. "You can, like, split it into a million pieces, I swear to—"

"I know, Britts," Santana tells her calmly with a gentle smile. "Here you go," she says as she hands over the cheese. "Split away."

Brittany gladly takes the snack and gets to work right away. "What's the bread for?" she asks, not really caring so much for the answer though with the delectable cheese occupying most of her thoughts.

Santana smiles as they start strolling down the street. "You'll see."

* * *

><p>The piece of bread falls into the water with a plop, and a small giggle escapes Brittany's lips.<p>

Santana watches Brittany out of the corner of her eye and smiles amusedly. Apparently, to Brittany, the sound is still funny after hearing it ten times.

The ducks in the pond quack loudly as they race for the food, and Brittany quickly reassures them. "Shhh, there's more," she calls out to the ducks as she rips another piece of bread out and tosses it into the pond. "Stop yelling at me, you guys," she tells the ducks when they start quacking uncontrollably again. She looks over to Santana and smiles.

Santana smiles back.

"Aren't you gonna feed them, too?" Brittany asks. She offers the piece of bread she's holding to Santana, and Santana takes it.

"Sure, why not?" Santana begins throwing bits of the bread into the pond, but they hit the ducks more often than not, prompting Brittany to give her an accusing look.

"Are you trying to hit the ducks, Santana?"

Santana jerks her head toward Brittany. "What? No! There are just so many of them… And it's just so funny when they get hit…"

"Santana!"

Santana smiles sheepishly back at Brittany, but, luckily, her ringing cellphone saves her from Brittany's wrath. She sticks the remaining bread she has into Brittany's hands and quickly checks her phone.

Brittany eyes Santana warily as she continues feeding the ducks. When Santana puts her phone away after typing a quick reply, Brittany asks, "Are you bored?"

Santana frowns. "Why would I be?"

"I don't know," Brittany says with a shrug. "'Cause you think I'm boring?"

Santana shakes her head. "Brittany," she says slowly, "you're the most interesting person I've ever met."

Brittany grins. "Really?"

"Do I ever lie to you?" Santana asks with a knowing smile.

Brittany giggles and looks down at her feet. "Never."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hey, guys, sorry it took a while. Been traveling again. But I got another new fic (**"Taking Off"**) up as well, so yay. =)


	7. Day 6

**Day 6**

* * *

><p>"San, what are you... What are you doing?" Brittany eyes Santana up and down, tilting her head confusedly. She glances behind her to see if any of her family members have walked past and noticed the weirdness that is transpiring before her eyes.<p>

Santana, as cool as ever, maintains her original pose that she greeted Brittany with. Leaning against the doorframe on her side, she has her arms crossed and a mysterious glint in her eyes.

Tentatively, Brittany extends her hand toward Santana's mouth. "You have a…rose…between your teeth," she says with wonder.

Santana crinkles her nose and tosses the single rose away. "Too much?" she asks with a frown.

Brittany instinctively reaches for the rose, but it had already fallen to her porch. Before she can do anything else, Santana's speaking again.

"I just plucked it from someone's backyard on my way here," Santana explains with a shrug. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I guess it _is_ super lame and corny—"

"I like lame and corny," Brittany interrupts.

Santana takes a moment to smile at Brittany's innocent and bewildered face. "Good," she says at last. She flicks a piece of dust carelessly off her tie and grins when she looks up and notices Brittany still staring at her attire. "You like it?" Santana asks with a smirk, gesturing at the boyfriend suit she's currently sporting.

In all honesty, Santana had thought her idea was beyond brilliant when it first struck her. What better way to be the best boy for Brittany than dressing up as one? Besides, she looks way hotter than any boy in her current outfit. The white dress shirt and black suit hang loose on her small frame, but she still looks every bit as feminine with her black pumps and her hair down, curled nicely around her shoulders.

Brittany seems to agree based on the way her eyes are raking over Santana's body, partly curious and partly…turned on? Santana quirks an eyebrow at this realization. She knows Brittany's turned on face, and this is definitely it.

"Hey, Britt?" Santana asks unsurely.

With her eyes still glued to Santana's figure, Brittany answers, "Hmm?"

"You, uh, wanna get changed so we can go somewhere?"

Brittany looks down ashamedly at her duckies pajamas. "Sorry," she mumbles, "I wasn't expecting you."

"No, it's cool," Santana tells her with a reassuring smile.

After giving Santana a last once-over, Brittany asks, "Wanna come in?"

* * *

><p>Santana flattens out the blanket and sits down with her legs crossed. She gazes up at Brittany with a small grin and pats the space next to her.<p>

Smiling bashfully to herself, Brittany takes a seat next to Santana, careful not to let her dress ride up too much. "This is…just...wow," Brittany says incredulously as she watches Santana open the picnic basket and pull out some drinks and sandwiches.

Santana grins back at her and shrugs.

Brittany lets her eyes flicker up to the slowly darkening sky for a moment, and is it just her or are the clouds just shaped really perfectly this evening?

"Hey, Britt-Britt," Santana interrupts, "are you hungry yet?"

Brittany nods enthusiastically, never having been one to turn down food—especially not Santana's food on the rare chance that she does get to eat it (Santana isn't exactly a cook).

"Good," Santana says as she hands Brittany a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Brittany claps her hands excitedly before she takes the sandwich from Santana's hands. "My favorite!" she exclaims at the same moment Santana says, "Your favorite."

They smile knowingly at each other, and Brittany blushes. It is too fucking adorable. Brittany takes a big bite of the sandwich and makes a thoughtful face for a moment before shrugging it off and continues chowing down.

Santana's perplexed but doesn't question Brittany because, well, it's Brittany. Instead, she grabs a sandwich for herself and takes a large bite, curious to see how her food experiment turned out (she isn't exactly a cook). Immediately, she scowls at the odd flavor in her mouth. This it _not_ what a PB and J is supposed to taste like.

"Brittany!" she hisses, snatching the sandwich from Brittany's hands. "Stop eating it." Santana sinks her teeth tentatively into Brittany's sandwich to check if it is as gross as hers was and sticks her tongue out in disgust when she realizes it is. "Why are you even eating this, Britt?" she exclaims.

Brittany shrugs. "'Cause you made it."

"Oh, God, and that's why it's gross." Santana frowns to herself. "I should never attempt to make food ever again in my life."

"But I like your food…," Brittany mumbles.

Santana doesn't seem to hear it because she starts apologizing right away. "I'm sorry I messed this picnic up. I thought I wouldn't be able to screw up _sandwiches_, but, hey, look at me screwing them up."

Brittany pouts and reaches for the sandwich Santana took from her. But Santana only holds it farther away. "No, Britt, don't."

"Why?" Brittany whines.

"Because I don't want you to get food poisoning or whatever," Santana sighs. "You remember what happened when you ate those crayons, right?"

Even Brittany rolls her eyes this time. "Santana, that was, like, ten years ago."

"I know but still." Santana glances shyly at Brittany. "I still remember how scared I was."

Brittany smiles slightly at this. "Okay."

"Okay?" Santana asks to check.

"Okay." But then Brittany's stomach growls.

Santana bites her lip, thinking hard. "We'll order pizza," she decides.

"How do we get pizza delivered here?" Brittany surveys her surroundings, taking in the trees and the grass. "Where are we anyway?"

"We'll find a way," Santana says confidently.

* * *

><p>"For fuck's sake, do you not know what a <em>tree<em> looks like?" Santana hisses into her phone. After a moment, she says, "Which is why I described to you what it looks like. Okay, you know what? Just get in your stupid car and drive. You'll find it once you find your brain." Santana flips her phone shut and tosses it onto the picnic blanket.

When Brittany smiles over at her reassuringly, Santana returns a half-hearted smile of her own. "He's just really dumb and—"

"I know," Brittany says.

Santana slides her hand across the blanket and slips her fingers through Brittany's. "You always do," she sighs.

* * *

><p>"Are you cold?" Santana asks.<p>

"A little," Brittany admits.

Santana shrugs off her blazer and drapes it over Brittany. "There you go."

"Thanks, San."

"Yep."

"I think we should picnic more often," Brittany declares.

Santana chuckles. "Sure, if you want."

"I want." Brittany glances over at Santana. "Do you?"

Santana purses her lips thoughtfully as she lies down on the blanket, sinking into the plushy grass underneath. "I want what you want."

Brittany lies down next to Santana as well, smiling to herself at Santana's reply. "Thanks for what you did tonight, San," she says after a moment.

Santana just shrugs it off.

Brittany kind of loves it when Santana's being all modest like that.

Santana takes out her phone and clicks a few buttons. Then she says, "It's getting kind of late, Britt." She turns her head to look at Brittany. "It's already ten."

"Oh," Brittany says disappointedly. "Do we have to go?"

"We probably should," Santana replies, frowning at Brittany's puppy dog face.

"Alright," Brittany sighs.

"But we don't always do things we should, do we?" Santana asks with a smirk.

Brittany's face lights up right away. "Nope," she confirms.

Chuckling, Santana rolls over to her front and props herself up with both her elbows. After staring for a moment, she pokes the tip of Brittany's nose with her finger and smiles.

"What?" Brittany asks.

"Nothing," Santana answers cryptically, rolling back onto her back.

"Huh."

Santana closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath of fresh air. She hums out in satisfaction and relaxes her body into the blanket. "This is nice," she sighs.

"The best," Brittany declares.

Santana's chuckling to herself when she feels a kiss at her cheek. She opens one eye to find Brittany's face hovering just inches from hers. "What?" she asks cutely.

Brittany shakes her head and grins. "Nothing," she answers cryptically.


	8. Day 7

**Author's Note:** Hey, guys! I know this took a while. It's because I'm back at school now, and it's been busy. :( I miss you guys, though, and this fandom! So enjoy this chapter, and, hopefully, I'll find time to update more often from now on!

* * *

><p><strong>Day 7<strong>

* * *

><p>"Bye, Britts," Santana says quietly. "Call me later."<p>

Brittany nods sleepily, slumped against her front door. The skies are still grey with the early morning's dew, and a chilly breeze brushes past Brittany's bare arms.

With a last smile at Brittany, Santana turns to go, but Brittany grabs her hand just in time. "Wait."

Santana turns around again, raising her eyebrows in question. "Hmm?"

Brittany pouts and furrows her eyebrows, seemingly unable to voice the source of her concern in her half-asleep state.

But Santana… Santana always knows. So she just grins at Brittany and sidles up to her. Gently, she runs her fingers through Brittany's messy blonde locks that had tangled during her sleep at the park the night before. "Your hair's such a mess," Santana mutters tenderly.

Brittany frowns, but it only makes Santana chuckle softly, all throaty and everything Brittany can't resist.

"I love it," Santana whispers onto Brittany's lips.

As if on cue, Brittany's lips part, and Santana plants a long, deep kiss onto her waiting lips.

When a lopsided smile appears on Brittany's face, Santana just can't stop herself. With the back of her hand, she strokes Brittany's cheek, and it's too late when she realizes how intimate the gesture was. She sighs audibly, but the sigh ends up being one of content rather than regret as Brittany snuggles adorably up to her hand. Oh, well. Sleepy Brittany will probably forget all of this anyway.

"I'm going to go now, okay?" Santana asks, her voice cracking in the middle of her sentence.

"Okay," Brittany tells her, nodding slowly.

Santana smirks as she backs away, but Brittany doesn't release her grip on Santana's hand. Santana looks down at their joined and hands and sends Brittany a pointed look. "Britt-Britt…"

Brittany blinks innocently back at her.

Shaking her head, Santana tugs Brittany closer and kisses her hard on the lips. "Are you gonna let me go now?" she asks when the kiss ends, her forehead still resting on Brittany's.

Brittany shakes her head rapidly.

Santana grunts and presses her lips onto Brittany's again. "Now?"

Once more, Brittany shakes her head no.

Santana purses her lips momentarily before she leaves a soft kiss onto the tip of Brittany's nose, then her cheeks, then her forehead, then her neck, then her chin…then just a slight peck on her lips. "Britt…," Santana murmurs, tracing her finger along Brittany's pink lips.

"Hmmm?"

"You're the most beautiful person I've ever met," Santana mumbles, her eyes still focused on Brittany's lips.

"What?" Brittany squeaks, alert all of a sudden.

"Nothing," Santana says quickly. "Go get some sleep, Britt. Just call me later."

Brittany nods absentmindedly, still shocked from what happened seconds ago, as she watches Santana jog back to her car.

When Santana drives away, Brittany walks down her porch and pads over to where a single rose lies on the grass. She picks it up, brings it up to her nose, and takes a sniff. With a small grin, Brittany enters her house, the rose held tightly in her hand.

* * *

><p>"And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before," Santana sings quietly to herself.<p>

She's resting on her bed, twirling her phone absentmindedly in her hands. It's past noon, and Brittany still hasn't called. Well, Brittany has always needed more sleep than the average person, but still.

"And I wish you all the love in the world, but, most of all, I wish it from myself… And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score, and I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before…"

As Santana drags out that last note, her phone vibrates in her hands, and she picks up before her ringtone even starts.

"Hello?"

"Wow, that was quick. Were you waiting with the phone in your hands or something?"

Santana smiles a little. "No."

"Oh, okay."

Santana chuckles, but it's more than just because of the humor of the moment. It's that…Brittany never doubts her words. "Did you just wake up from your nap?"

"Uh huh."

"Still tired?"

"Uh huh."

"Don't wanna get out of bed?"

"Uh huh."

"Perfect."

* * *

><p>In ten minutes, Santana's at the door of Brittany's room, chuckling at the sight of Brittany sprawled on her bed.<p>

"San!" Brittany exclaims, sitting up straight.

Santana walks over to her and leans down to kiss her on the forehead. "Hey, Britt," she says with a smile.

Brittany grins back and looks down at the bag in Santana's hand. "What's this?"

Santana smirks smugly as she reaches into the plastic bag and takes out a tub of ice cream. She raises her eyebrows suggestively at Brittany as she takes two more spoons out.

Brittany clasps a hand over her mouth and squeals. "Coach is gonna kill us!" she says in a hushed voice.

"Who cares about her?" Santana says, plopping onto the bed. She sets the tub of vanilla ice cream onto her lap and hands Brittany a spoon, keeping one for herself.

But Brittany frowns a bit and then snatches Santana's spoon away from her. "We won't be needing this," she says, flinging the spoon to the ground.

"Brittany!" Santana squints her eyes at Brittany but can't help but smile when Brittany sticks a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into her mouth.

"Mmm," Santana hums in satisfaction.

Brittany grins at her as she takes a bite of ice cream herself. "You always have the best ideas, San," she sighs.

Santana shrugs, opening her mouth in anticipation for more ice cream, which Brittany gladly gives to her. "I try," Santana jokes, swallowing the melted ice cream.

Brittany giggles, and Santana raises her eyebrows. "That wasn't that funny," Santana says.

Brittany giggles again before reaching a finger out to wipe some ice cream off the corner of Santana's mouth. "You have ice cream on your face, silly."

"Oh." Santana touches her face self-consciously to see if there's more ice cream but falters when she sees Brittany stick the same finger into her mouth and suck the ice cream off.

"Britt," Santana whines, eyeing Brittany's lips (which were so deliciously red from the coldness of the ice cream), "you can't do stuff like that."

"Like what?" Brittany asks, unaware of Santana's hungry gaze.

"Like…" Santana gestures at Brittany's finger. "Like that."

Brittany looks curiously at her finger and sucks it in between her lips again.

"Oh, God," Santana groans, getting off the bed immediately.

"Are you okay, San?" Brittany asks.

"I'm fine, Britt," Santana sighs. "I just want to, you know, respect you and stuff."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Santana wills her mind to get out of the gutter as she paces around Brittany's room. It's not that she hasn't done stuff with Brittany before, but it feels different now. It feels like she shouldn't be pressuring Brittany into anything. Santana stops walking around like a maniac when she notices the vase with a single rose on Brittany's desk. "Hey, Britt?"

Brittany rolls off the bed and glides up next to her. "Yeah?"

"What's this?"

"The rose from last night."

Santana glances over at Brittany, whose face was just inches from hers. "You kept it?"

"How could I not?" Brittany smiles. "You're my little duckie, Santana."

Santana grins, fully understanding the weight behind the statement. "And you're my songbird, Brittany."


	9. Day 8

**Day 8**

* * *

><p>She dreamt of Santana last night.<p>

When she wakes up, she thinks of Santana again.

She's cooking herself brunch, a duck-shaped omelet, and guess who it reminds her of? Santana.

She's restless, really, with these thoughts clouding her mind. At long last, she takes out her phone and speed-dials '2.'

"Britt," Santana chirps after the second ring.

Brittany hesitates for a moment. She doesn't even know why she called. "Hey," she says at last.

"Hey," Santana replies, her tone having immediately turned gentler. "You okay, Britt-Britt?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh, okay… So what's up?"

"I…I don't know," Brittany sighs. "My brain's too small to process all my thoughts."

Santana chuckles a bit, but Brittany only sighs more.

"I'm serious, Santana," Brittany says.

"I know, I know," Santana reassures her, but Brittany can still hear her smiling through the phone. "You want me to come over?" Santana asks genuinely.

Brittany nods, and Santana chuckles again. "Are you nodding, Britts?"

"Yes."

"Alright, don't move. I'll be over in a second."

* * *

><p>Santana smiles to herself as she hangs up. She had been waiting all morning for that call…and that is exactly the problem. What has she turned into? Why is she acting like a stupid lovesick teenager? Because she's <em>not <em>in love, not at _all_. And this is _Brittany_, her best friend in the whole world, and all of this is just a stupid bet.

It's not real…is it?

Santana runs her hands over her face and sighs. You know what? Everything will be okay. She'll go over to Brittany's right now, and everything will be just like it used to be.

* * *

><p>Santana creeps into Brittany's living room and pounces onto an unsuspecting Brittany who's gazing curiously at her ceiling.<p>

Brittany shrieks as she tumbles off the couch with Santana's limbs entangled in hers. "Santana," she gasps when she manages to brush all the hair off her face.

Santana grins down at her. "Hi."

"Hey," Brittany replies with a smile.

Without a second thought, Santana leans down and kisses Brittany roughly.

Brittany kisses back but pushes Santana away after a few seconds. "San…"

"What?"

"Can we…talk?"

"Brittany," Santana whines, panicking that her plan was already failing. "Can we not talk _now?_"

"But, San, I'm just really confused, okay?"

"Just don't think so much, Britts," Santana tells her as she nibbles on her ear.

"Santana…"

Santana slips her hands underneath Brittany's shirt and runs them greedily over her taut stomach.

"Stop it, Santana," Brittany says more forcefully this time.

But Santana only lifts Brittany's shirt higher and sneaks her hand further up.

"_Santana_."

Finally, with a sigh, Santana rolls off Brittany's body and sits cross-legged on the carpet. "What did you want to talk about, Britt?" she asks exasperatedly.

Brittany frowns at Santana's harsh tone. She hasn't heard that tone of voice come from Santana in just about…eight days. "Wh-why are you talking to me like that?" Brittany asks softly.

"I've always talked to you like this," Santana spits out.

Brittany bites her lip. "Not recently, you haven't."

"Jesus, Brittany, stop acting like such a baby."

Brittany looks down at her feet but doesn't say anything. What does Santana expect her to say anyway? Santana knows it when she's hurting her, and she clearly doesn't care.

"Britt," Santana says in a gentler tone, "I'm sorry. Now just tell me what's wrong."

Brittany shakes her head. She can't tell Santana anything now, especially not things related to feelings that Santana would certainly not approve of.

"Britt," Santana tries again, "I know I can be a bitch sometimes. Talk to me, please."

"You weren't being a bitch," Brittany mumbles. "You were right. You've always talked like that."

"Don't say that," Santana groans.

Brittany remains silent as she stares at her hands.

"Brittany," Santana coos, shuffling closer on her knees. She reaches out to touch Brittany's arm, but Brittany pulls away and turns her back to Santana.

Santana inches closer again and places a hand on Brittany's shoulder. "Hey."

Brittany shrugs Santana's hand off. "I hate that we're in my house."

"Why?" Santana asks, sitting awkwardly on her heels.

"Because if I angrily storm out right now, then I'll just have to come back later."

"So you want me to leave?" Santana asks quietly.

Brittany doesn't respond.

Santana raises her hand to touch Brittany's hair again, but Brittany flinches away. It almost makes Santana angry, so she stands up abruptly and rolls her eyes. "Britt, are you going to be like this? 'Cause then I'll actually leave."

When Brittany doesn't say anything, Santana sighs and tries one last time. "Just tell me what you wanted to say."

"No."

"_Brittany_, why are you being so stubborn?" Santana asks loudly, storming over to where Brittany was facing to look her in the eye.

"And why are you yelling?" Brittany challenges.

"Because you're driving me crazy, Britt, that's why."

"How is any of this my fault?" Brittany asks incredulously.

"Because!" Santana shouts, throwing her hands up in the air.

When Brittany sends her another look of disbelief, Santana rolls her eyes and says, "Because you're just always there, being you…and it's driving me crazy! Crazy, Brittany!"

"Santana—"

"You're just there, and the next thing I know, I'm kissing you, and I never, ever want to stop. And when I'm not with you, you'd think my heart finally gets a moment of peace, right? But, no, because all I can think about is you. All I can think about is you and your hair that smells way too fucking sweet. All I can think about is you and your stupid omelets, you and your giggles, you and your pink lips, you and your cute nose… And then you're smiling at me, and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Fuck, Brittany, you just drive me fucking crazy. Do you understand?"

Santana takes a deep breath as she gages Brittany's reaction, whose widened eyes soften and whose lips curl into a gentle smile. "Looks like we're going to Breadstix," Brittany says with a chuckle.

"Why?"

"Because I'm in love with you, Santana."

Santana cracks a grin at Brittany before reaching out with both hands and tugging Brittany to her feet. "Can I kiss you now?" she whispers onto Brittany's lips.

"Only if you never, ever stop," Brittany breathes.

Santana chuckles as she tiptoes and captures Brittany's lips into a seemingly never-ending kiss. At last, they pull apart for air, but Brittany's flushed cheeks are doing things to Santana, so Santana kisses her again, more passionately and hungrily this time.

Brittany whimpers as she feels Santana tugging on her bottom lip. She throws her arms around Santana's neck and jumps up to wrap her legs around Santana's waist. Catching Brittany by her thighs, Santana grunts at the weight, but her strong arms hold Brittany up easily, and Brittany thinks it's the hottest thing ever.

"Let's go to my room, Santana," Brittany husks, running one hand through Santana's dark hair.

"Are you sure?" Santana asks her.

Staring into Santana's eyes, Brittany bites her lip and nods.

It's kind of the cutest thing Santana's ever seen, so she smiles and presses her lips into Brittany's again as she stumbles her way over to Brittany's room.


	10. Day 9

**Author's Note:** So the story's coming to an end. Maybe one or two more chapters after this one. Anyway, here's Day 9, not exactly the fluffiest chapter in the world, but be patient-everything will be okay.

* * *

><p><strong>Day 9<strong>

* * *

><p>Gently, Brittany runs the back of her hand across Santana's cheek, unable to stop smiling as she does so. Santana, her best friend, her soul mate, the most caring, most beautiful person she knows. The way Santana's chest heaves with each breath she takes takes Brittany's breath away. It's so tender and tranquil, so reflective of the way Santana really is as a person deep inside.<p>

And she really _is_ precious, especially with the sunlight splayed across her cheeks like that, her closed eyes, and her slightly parted lips. So Brittany leans in, careful not to wake her, and leaves a soft kiss onto Santana's lips.

But of course Santana stirs, and, slowly, her eyelids flutter open to the sight of Brittany no more than an inch away from her. "Hi," she croaks at Brittany's smiling face.

"Hi."

Santana cracks a grin at the rather excited looking Brittany, instinctively touching her lips. "Did you just kiss me?" she asks in the same morning-induced throaty voice.

"Maybe," Brittany admits bashfully.

Santana chuckles. "Aren't you just the cutest thing?"

As if still not used to Santana's charming little comments, Brittany hides her face in her pillow and only watches Santana out of one eye.

But that only makes Santana grin even wider as she nuzzles Brittany's neck, urging her to look up again. "Don't hide from me, Britt-Britt," she mumbles into Brittany's neck.

Brittany giggles a little bit before turning to face Santana again.

"Ahh, that's better," Santana tells her with a smirk. "Now my turn," she says, edging closer and closer until her plump lips press gently onto Brittany's.

"I'm glad you stayed the night," Brittany whispers.

Santana gazes down at Brittany's delicious mouth, brushing her thumb delicately across Brittany's bottom lip. "Me, too," she whispers back.

For a few moments, they just smile at one another. Finally, Santana breaks the trance they're in, rolling off the bed abruptly. "I need to take a shower," she says.

Brittany pouts. "Come back, San," she whines, reaching her arm out desperately.

Laughing, Santana slides her fingers through Brittany's and lifts Brittany's hand to her lips. "I really need to shower, Britt," she murmurs as she kisses the back of Brittany's hand. "But," she adds mischievously, dropping Brittany's hand and walking seductively slowly away, "that doesn't mean you can't join me…"

Brittany smirks, watching Santana shrug off her pajamas through the crack of the door. She doesn't even feel bad about peeking because Santana left the door ajar for a reason, and Brittany's pretty sure Santana's putting on a show for her right now.

Just as the show is about to get good (namely, only Santana's panties remain to be removed), Santana's phone buzzes with a new text message. Brittany ignores it at first, too engrossed in the sight before her to care, but the phone vibrates again. "San," Brittany calls out, "you have a text."

"Yeah?" Santana calls back from the bathroom. "What does it say-"

"Umm," Brittany mumbles, scrolling confusedly through the phone.

"Wait, Britt-"

"It's from…_Puck_," Brittany says, frowning with disgust and confusion, "and it says…" Her voice trails off as Santana jumps out of the bathroom, clad only in a towel.

Brittany looks up at Santana and squints her eyes, a mix of perplexity, hurt, and denial swirling in them.

"Brittany…"

Brittany checks Santana's phone again just to confirm that she's reading it right. "He's asking if you're still coming over tonight," she says more to herself than anything.

Santana reaches out cautiously, but Brittany flinches away. "Brittany," Santana says in the calmest voice she can, "just ignore him, okay?"

But Brittany only furrows her eyebrows more. "Have you been talking to him this whole time, Santana?" she asks quietly.

"Britt…"

"Answer me, Santana," Brittany says firmly. "Have you?"

"Listen-"

Brittany goes to Santana's phone instead for the answer, quickly flipping through all the text messages they exchanged. She can't believe how many texts they've been sending each other this past week all along the lines of the one she just read. "God, I'm such an idiot," she mutters to herself.

"No, Britt, you're not," Santana tells her.

"Don't even," Brittany warns Santana, with a coldness in her voice that Santana's never heard before.

"Let me explain, Brittany-"

"Have you been seeing him?"

"Britt-"

"Answer the question, Santana," Brittany says in a louder voice. "Have you?"

"Just listen to-"

"_Have you been you fucking him or not?"_

Santana pauses, shocked by what just came out of Brittany's mouth, which was simply the opposite of her personality on so many levels. Brittany's eyes begin to water as she bites on her lip, and Santana watches on with this unbearable guilt clogging her throat. Finally, she runs her hand through her hair and whispers, "Brittany…"

It's enough of an answer for Brittany, and she sits on the edge of the bed as if drained of all her energy. "Please, leave," she says in a quiet voice, looking away as a tear rolls down her cheek.

It breaks Santana's heart to see Brittany like that. "I was just being stupid, Britt, and I wasn't thinking-"

"Santana, leave."

"You know I care about you, and the Puck thing… I don't even know what that was all about."

"You care about me," Brittany repeats with a snort.

"I _do_, Britt, and you know that."

"Is this what you do to people you care about? You sleep with other people behind their backs?" Brittany shakes her head in disappointment.

Santana kneels on the ground and places her hands on Brittany's thighs. "I'm sorry, Britt-Britt," Santana tells her sincerely. "I just didn't realize how much I cared about you. I didn't realize that everything was real. And with Puck, I didn't have to care about feelings, and that was easier for me. You know I don't feel for Puck what I do for you."

Brittany wipes a tear from her eye and gazes seriously down at Santana. "And what _do_ you feel for me?"

"I…" Santana leaves her mouth open as words disappear from her mind. "I…like you, Britt," she says.

"You like me. Really, Santana?" Brittany scoffs.

"I mean, I _really_ like you, Britt. Like a lot."

"Oh, for God's sake," Brittany mutters. "I can't believe we're still here talking about how we're fucking best friends."

"That's not what I'm saying."

"What are you saying then?" Brittany challenges.

"I'm saying…that I really care for you and like you and that you are a very…special person in my life."

Brittany rubs her face with her hands and lets out a huge sigh. "Santana, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Please go home. Now."

Santana licks her lips nervously before trying one last time to honestly tell Brittany her feelings. "Brittany, I…I lo…like you so much-"

"I just want to be alone now."

Santana gets up off the ground in defeat. "Okay," she sighs. She shuffles over to the bathroom and picks up her clothes from the ground, quickly throwing her sweats on before grabbing her bag to leave.


	11. Day 10

**Author's Note:** Hello, lovely people. There'll be an epilogue after this chapter before "Challenge Accepted" officially comes to an end. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Day 10<strong>

* * *

><p>Santana's never voluntarily gotten up so early in her whole freaking life.<p>

Well, that's a lie. That time Brittany wanted to go to Disneyland, she did. But, other than that, never. Actually, that's a lie, too. That time Lord Tubbington was sick and Brittany needed a ride to the vet, she did. Basically, she's never gotten up this early if not for Brittany.

And why is she up so early this beautiful morning? Surprise, surprise—Brittany. Santana's up and ready by eight today, the exact time Brittany leaves for her morning jog. Yeah, Santana might not like talking about feelings, but sometimes...you just have to.

* * *

><p>Brittany leaves her house with a sigh. It's a beautiful morning and everything. She only wishes she were in a better mood. Fights with Santana always leave her sad and gloomy. She hates that being angry at Santana is almost as hard as not being angry at her even though she <em>should<em> be angry. Brittany's learned not to think so deeply into things anymore when it comes to Santana. After all, nothing about Santana makes sense; but then again, nothing else in the world makes as much sense to her as Santana. Her Santana. Her stupid poophead of a Santana.

* * *

><p>Santana drives over to Brittany's house and arrives just ten minutes after Brittany's left. She knocks several times before Mrs. Pierce opens the door. "Santana!" she says in surprise. "Brittany just left for her jog."<p>

"I know," Santana says.

"What are you doing here at this time of the day?"

"I… Can I come in?"

"Of course," Mrs. Pierce says, stepping aside to let Santana in. "So, what's going on, Santana?"

"I, uh, sort of pissed Brittany off yesterday…"

"Uh huh…"

"Like, really, _really_ pissed her off." Santana looks up at Mrs. Pierce shamefully. "And it's totally my fault, and I just need to fix it."

"Alright… You still haven't told me why you're here."

Santana takes a deep breath. "Well…"

* * *

><p>Brittany slows her pace as she nears her house, settling into a walk completely as she walks up her driveway. The jog made her feel slightly better, but, as always, Santana is still on her mind, and it isn't all happy thoughts this time. With a sigh, she enters her house and swings by the kitchen to get a glass of water when she sees her mom making a peanut butter sandwich.<p>

"Hey, Mom."

"Hey, sweetie." Her mom glances at her with a funny look, and Brittany gives her a weird look back.

"Why are you making a peanut butter sandwich?"

Her mom shrugs. "No reason."

"You don't even like peanut butter."

"Well, I thought you might be hungry," Mrs. Pierce says.

"You know I had breakfast before I left, right?"

Mrs. Pierce shrugs again. "Stop asking so many questions, Brittany."

Brittany narrows her eyes suspiciously at her mom one more time before hopping up the stairs. As she shuffles down her hallway to her room, a pleasant smell fills her nostrils, and she looks around confusedly in search of the source of the scent. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she continues down the hallway toward her room. The scent only grows stronger, and, finally realizing that it is coming from her room, Brittany quickly pushes the door open.

Santana's gazing out the window when she hears the door, and she spins around immediately to see Brittany standing there in shock.

"What's going on?" Brittany asks.

Santana looks around the room—at the yellow rose petals scattered across the carpeted floor, the lavender candles lighting up every corner of the room, the rubber ducks hanging from Brittany's ceiling—and shrugs. "I'm sorry, Brittany," she says honestly.

Brittany bends down and fingers a velvety rose petal. Then she stands up again and squeezes a rubber duck. It makes a weird quacking noise, and Brittany can't help but grin.

"Britt," Santana says, edging closer to her. "I thought of this—all of this—as a game this whole time. At least, I tried to tell myself it wasn't serious, that it was just a bet. And it wasn't until two days ago that it hit me. It wasn't until then that I realized how serious it all was, how serious my feelings were about you."

Brittany furrows her eyebrows as she listens to Santana's speech, already touched by the gesture but trying her hardest to not forgive Santana so easily—again.

"You know, Britt," Santana says, "I always mess everything up. It's like…you're this perfect person, and you do everything right, and then I come in and screw things up and hurt your feelings." Santana twists her lips as she thinks of her next words. "And I hate it," she says in a whisper. "I hate it when I see that you're sad because of me. You're just…you're too good for me, you know?"

Brittany bites her lip as she watches Santana wipe a tear from her eye.

"You're too good for me, Brittany. And you're still always there for me, and I'm just the luckiest girl in the world. But I never realized it, and I just want to hit myself in the head for being so stupid."

Santana takes a deep breath, composing herself. "Britt-Britt, you're my best friend."

Brittany winces at this, not sure if she can listen to Santana talk about their best friend status one more time.

Santana continues, "You're my best friend, you're my soul mate, and you're…the love of my life. I love you, Brittany. I love you more than I could ever love anybody else. My heart's in your hands now, Britt. And if you still want me, you have all of me. And if you don't…you'll still have all of me because…I'm yours. I've always been yours."

Brittany frowns, punching Santana's shoulder hard.

"Oww," Santana whines, grabbing her arm.

"I'm so, _so_ mad at you, Santana," Brittany says.

Santana offers a kind smile amidst all her pain. "I know."

"You're such an idiot."

"I know that, too."

"Like seriously the stupidest person on the planet. I just…ugh."

"Hit me again, Britt," Santana says, offering her good shoulder.

"What?"

"Just let it all out. Hit me again."

Brittany raises her fist, ready to give another good punch, but she drops her arm at the last minute. "I can't hit you, Santana," she sighs.

"Why not? You just did. C'mon, Britt, hit me."

"Stop it, Santana."

"What? Why? Look, my shoulder's all ready. Do it."

"Santana…"

"Why are you hesitating? Just-"

"Jesus Christ, San! How can I even bear to hurt you? You know I love you too fucking much…"

Santana smirks. "Do you?"

"Don't push it."

"I won't."

"I'm still mad."

"Justifiably so."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means…never mind."

Brittany's gaze falls onto the red mark on Santana's shoulder, and a wave of guilt overcomes her. "I'm going to do something now, but it doesn't mean I've forgiven you. Because I haven't."

Santana nods. "Okay."

Brittany rolls her eyes but scoots closer to Santana and presses a soft kiss onto her injured shoulder.

With a smug grin, Santana says, "Ah, doesn't hurt anymore."

"Shut up, San." Brittany sits down on her bed and glances up at Santana with those sad eyes that just break Santana's heart more and more each time. "You lied to me, Santana," she whispers.

"I-I know." Santana sits down beside Brittany and places a hand over Brittany's, but Brittany slowly pulls away.

"You told me you'd never lie to me."

"Well," Santana tries, "I didn't _lie_ to you per se… I more of withheld information from you."

Brittany looks at Santana disbelievingly.

"Sorry," Santana says abruptly.

When Brittany doesn't respond, she nudges Brittany's cheek with her nose then nuzzles into Brittany's neck.

Brittany sighs and backs away. "Santana…"

"Not even an Eshkimo kiss?" Santana asks in a baby voice, her large eyes blinking up at Brittany adorably.

"Fine, just an Eskimo kiss," Brittany relents. Rolling her eyes, Brittany leans in and rubs her nose against Santana's. "I hope you know this is as much action as you're gonna get for the next five years of your life."

At this declaration, Santana sits up straight and looks Brittany over thoughtfully. She narrows her eyes as she mulls over the implications of Brittany's words.

Brittany almost panics for a second, because as angry as she is at Santana, she can't bear to lose her over a sweet lady kisses disagreement either.

"Baby," Santana says at last, "a lifetime of Eskimo kisses, and I'll be the happiest woman in the world."


	12. Challenge Completed

Brittany smiles down at her plate as she twirls the spaghetti with her fork.

Munching on her breadstick, Santana tilts her head as she watches Brittany, a small grin tugging at her lips. "Hey, Britt?" she whispers.

Brittany looks up from her food to meet Santana's twinkling eyes. "Yeah?"

"Whatcha smiling at?" Santana takes another bite of her breadstick.

Brittany shrugs, glancing around the restaurant. "Just…I can't believe we're finally here."

"We come here all the time," Santana says.

"Yeah, but…" Brittany furrows her eyebrows in frustration. "You know what I mean, Santana."

Santana chuckles. "I know, I know."

"Anyway, how are your breadsticks?"

"Excellent," Santana replies with a smirk.

"Are you sure you don't want to order actual food?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Santana takes a sip of water, eyeing Brittany's spaghetti and meatballs. "Besides, now I get to share with you." Santana rests her chin on her hand and watches Brittany, as if her eating spaghetti were the most beautiful sight in the world.

Brittany snorts under Santana's typically charming gaze. "Yeah, yeah."

"How's your spaghetti?" Santana asks slyly.

"Great." Brittany glances up at Santana and the meaningful look in her eyes. Failing to hold a smile in, Brittany scoops up another forkful of spaghetti and holds it across the table to Santana's mouth.

"Hmm," Santana hums, slurping down the pasta.

Brittany returns to her food, watching Santana out of the corner of her eye.

"You're my favorite, you know that, Britt?" Santana says all of a sudden.

Brittany quickly stops scarfing down her spaghetti and wipes her mouth with her napkin. "Am I?" she asks.

Santana nods. "Uh huh. You've always been my favorite."

Brittany grins at this. "You think you're smooth, don't you?"

"No," Santana says with a smile, "just honest."

The smirk disappears from Brittany's face as she takes in Santana's sincere confession. "You're my favorite, too, San," she admits.

Santana smiles, sliding her hand across the table to hold onto Brittany's. She rubs the back of Brittany's hand with her thumb for a moment before pulling it to her lips and planting a long kiss there. "Can you get more perfect?"

Brittany blushes and looks away, retrieving her hand to continue jabbing at her spaghetti. "San…," she whines softly.

Santana just watches in amusement. "What?"

"You're being all corny and making me blush."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Brittany glances up and catches Santana's smirk. She immediately responds with a smug grin of her own. It's as if they both know they are blessed with something that very few people have.

And that something is love.

* * *

><p>"Thank you," Brittany says to their waiter as she reaches for the check, but Santana grabs it before Brittany's even close. "What are you doing, Santana?"<p>

Santana scans the bill before taking out her credit card. "Paying," she replies offhandedly.

"But I'm supposed to pay."

Santana raises an eyebrow at Brittany. "Who says?"

"Well, we're here for the bet, aren't we? And I lost."

Santana smiles at the charmingly honest Brittany. "Britt…"

"That was the bet: I fall in love with you, and I buy you dinner."

"Well, yes," Santana admits, "but I'm in love with you, too, so…"

"But I fell in love with you first," Brittany insists.

Santana chuckles at this. "Britt," she begins, "I've been thinking about this a lot, and you know what I realized?"

"What?"

"I realized that I've been in love with you longer than I can remember. Maybe since those sleepovers in middle school. Or those play dates in elementary school. Or maybe since we met for the first time in kindergarten. Remember when I kissed you on the cheek?" Santana smiles at the memory. "I didn't even know why I did it. I was five years old." She shrugs. "I just know that I'm in love with you and that I've felt this way for a very long time."

Brittany chews on her lip. "Well, you're not the only one who's been in love for so long. I mean-"

"Brittany."

"What?"

"This isn't some kind of competition."

"But-"

"We'll split the check."

Brittany thinks about this for a moment, then nods. "Okay."

Santana smiles at her. "Okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

><p>For the first time, they leave Breadstix with their hands clasped in one another's. They walk over to Santana's car and get in, but Santana doesn't drive Brittany home just yet. Instead, she brings Brittany to the Lima Aquarium, somewhere that Brittany has, strangely enough, not requested that Santana bring her to yet in their many years of friendship.<p>

"Wow," Brittany breathes out in awe, pressing her hands against the floor-length glass panel separating her from dozens of sea creatures.

Santana grins, studying Brittany's glimmering eyes and gaping mouth. "It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

"It's awesome," Brittany says, her eyes trailing the path of a stingray. "Santana, look! It's huge."

Santana glances at the stingray and nods. "Yeah, it is."

Brittany giggles, eyes still scanning the aquarium in fascination. Finally, she pauses, having found something more marvelous than the previous creatures. "Santana…"

Santana tilts her head, trying to follow Brittany's line of sight.

"Dolphins," Brittany tells her.

Santana chuckles. "And they're just gay sharks."

Brittany pulls her eyes away from the tank and gazes at Santana, smitten, lovestruck, and head over heels. "And they're just gay sharks," she repeats quietly.

Santana notices the change in Brittany's expression and falters for a moment. Her eyes flick down toward Brittany's pink lips, and, without even knowing it, she's leaning in, inch by inch…

Until she suddenly remembers that Eskimo kisses was all the action she was getting for the next five years, and she stops. She glances warily up at Brittany. "Can I…?" she asks nervously.

Brittany smiles. "Of course you can."

And so she cups Brittany's cheek with one hand and pushes her lips into Brittany's.

"Mommy," Santana hears a small voice say. She breaks away from Brittany and looks down to see a boy not too far from her tugging on his mother's sleeve. "What are gay sharks?" he asks.

The mother frowns. "What are you talking about?"

The boy gestures at Santana and Brittany and says, "They were talking about gay sharks."

His mother glances over and notices Santana and Brittany's joined hands, immediately grimacing in disapproval.

And Santana isn't about to let it go. "Do you have a problem, Miss?" she asks loudly. Brittany tugs at her hand, urging her to stop, but Santana ignores it. "Huh?" she adds when the woman doesn't respond.

The woman just shakes her head and leads her son away.

Santana scoffs, turning back to Brittany with her eyebrows scrunched in anger. "Britt, did you see that? What is wrong with people these days?"

"It's okay, San," Brittany assures her.

But Santana will have none of it. "Have they looked at you? You're a hot piece of ass. They should be jealous of me, not judging me like that."

Brittany smiles a little at this. "I know, Santana, but some people are just more narrow-minded than others. It's okay. We don't have to flaunt it in their faces-"

"But I _want_ to flaunt it in their faces. I want everyone to know that I'm with the most…" Santana takes a deep breath, searching for the right words to say. "The most…beautiful, loving, kindhearted girl in the world."

A wide smile takes over Brittany's face as the words tumble from Santana's mouth. She nods, pulling Santana's face toward hers, and kisses her. "Let's flaunt it, then," she says. "Let's flaunt it all the time."

Santana smirks at Brittany, tightening her hold on Brittany's hand as they continue strolling through the aquarium.

"Wait, look at this one, San!" Brittany points to a small clownfish and grins at Santana. "It's Nemo."

Santana nods through her quiet laugh, wrapping her arm around Brittany's waist. "You found him."

"You're like the Nemo to my Dory, San," Brittany says.

Santana mulls over that comparison for a second, smiling inwardly at the aptness of it. Brittany does resemble Dory in some odd ways…

"And I've finally found you," Brittany adds softly.

Santana practically feels her heart clench at that moment. "Britt-Britt," she starts, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Hmm?" Brittany hums.

She gazes straight into Brittany's blue eyes and smiles. "You know I'm gonna marry you, right?"

"What?"

"One day," Santana says, ambling along again. "One day, I'll marry you, Brittany."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Well, here's the end. Thank you so much for following this story. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you did, too.


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